Tails's First Scary Story
by Jerry Lannigan
Summary: Usually, Bunnie Rabbot reads Tails a bedtime story every night. However, when she is unavailable, Sonic volunteers to do the job, and ends up telling his little brother his first scary story. SatAM. T for sheer horror.


Tails's First Scary Story

Tails yawned as he climbed into bed. After a whole day of helping Rotor and Sally with the De-Roboticizer, he was beat. He hoped that it would work and not wear off like the last time they tested it on Bunnie. He also hoped that if it did work, the Freedom Fighters would have a better chance at defeating Robotnik.

Tails was only two years old when Sonic found him, curled up underneath what was left of his parents. Sonic had become the closest thing he had to a brother, and Sally and Bunnie were like his aunts. Especially Bunnie, as she was the one who read him a story every night.

A soon as he got himself situated, already half-asleep, the door opened; but instead of Bunnie, as usual, Sonic was the one who walked through the door. "Hey, Sonic! Where's Bunnie?"

"Hey there, little bro!" Sonic greeted. "Sorry, but Aunt Bunnie's going to be the guinea pig for the De-Roboticizer. So, _moi_ is going to be tonight's story-teller."

Tails sat up and scratched his head. "Guinea pig? I thought Bunnie was a rabbit?"

Sonic chuckled at his little brother's literalness. "It's a figure of speech, Tails: when someone calls something a 'guinea pig,' they're saying that it's a target for a scientific test. At least, that's what Sal said."

Tails nodded. He liked science a lot, especially technology: he could sit through a lecture on the inner workings of an iPad and never get bored. "Way past cool!" he said, imitating Sonic's signature thumbs-up gesture.

Sonic grinned and began searching the bookshelf next to Tails's bed. "What'd you want me to read you tonight, lil' bro?"

Tails tapped his upper lip thoughtfully. Last night, Bunnie had read the first chapter of _The Hobbit_ to him, but he fell asleep halfway through. He wanted something interesting, like…

"I want to hear a scary story," he blurted out.

Sonic cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "You sure? 'Cause I got a whole bunch of stories that would scare the bejeezus out of Sally, and she's hardly scared of anything."

Tails's blue eyes lit up. Now he _had_ to know at least one of those stories. "I can handle it, Sonic."

"Okay, but I'm warning you, this may keep you up all night." Sonic sat on Tails's bed, took a deep breath, and began his speaking. "You know who Robotnik is, Tails?"

Tails nodded, paying rapt attention to his big brother. "Yeah. He's the evil man that roboticized Uncle Chuck."

"Good memory, Tails. Anyway, he had a granddad named Gerald, who was also a scientist, but he was a good guy. Gerald lived on a space station called The Space Colony ARK with his niece, Maria, who had an incurable disease that prevented her from living here on Mobius."

"Is that the scary part?" Tails asked.

"No, it's not. Desperate to cure Maria, Gerald went to work on something he called Project: Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form. What he created turned out to be a super-powered black hedgehog with red stripes named Shadow. Shadow befriended Maria, and the two grew to be best friends."

"Just like me and you!"

"Yes, but let me finish: one day, apparently because some jerk was jealous of Gerald, the ARK was invaded by GUN, the human government, and ended up taking Gerald prisoner."

"What happened to Maria and Shadow?"

"Maria and Shadow tried to escape in an escape pod, but there was only one left in the bay. Maria tricked Shadow into the escape pod and shut him inside, with her on the outside. A GUN soldier told her to release Shadow, but she refused and activated the escape pod, sending Shadow to Mobius. So they shot her in the chest." Sonic smiled sheepishly. "And, yeah, that's all. Wasn't it _scary_?"

Tails's lip was quivering. "That wasn't scary, just really sad."

Sonic hugged his little brother, trying to comfort him. "Fine, I'll tell you a legitimately scary story, but you have to promise me not to freak out, okay?"

Tails smiled. "Okay."

Sonic began his second narrative. "You know where Elm Street is, right?"

"Yeah, it's in that old section of the city with all the broken-down houses and stores. Why?"

"Well, that place used to be the home of a human named Fredrick Krueger: he had an unhealthy obsession with children."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Tails said innocently. "Who _wouldn't_ like children?"

"At first, he just liked to hang around with them a lot, earning him a reputation as an awesome babysitter. However, he didn't stop at just playing with them: he hugged them, kissed them, and _touched _them in private areas while swearing them to secrecy about it. And that was _no_ good."

Tails gulped. He hadn't had "The Talk" yet, but he somehow knew what Sonic was hinting to. It made him feel quite uneasy.

"Once the parents of the children eventually found out about it," Sonic continued, "they decided to burn down Krueger's house while he was still inside."

Tails gasped. "That's awful! He must've done it a _lot_ to get them _that_ mad!"

"That's not the end of the story, though. Just as Krueger was about to die, the Devil came to him and offered him a deal: he gave Krueger the power to invade and control dreams, in exchange for his soul. Krueger accepted, and he survived the fire. However, he was covered with open burn marks once he dug his way out of the rubble, making him look like he picked one too many scabs."

Tails had a mildly disgusted look on his face. "That's gross."

"He then donned his favorite Christmas sweater and fedora hat, which somehow survived the fire, and he made a strange glove with blades on each finger."

Tails's eyes were widening by the second. "How does he get into people's dreams?"

Sonic assumed an ominous tone. "He has the ability to become a ghost if he wants to, and so then he comes into your mind while you're sleeping."

Tails was now visibly trembling. "Wh-wh-what does he do in people's dreams?"

"He kills them in the worst ways possible: sometimes, he just cuts you to pieces with his blade glove; other times, he'll use your worst fear on you; and if he's in a _really_ bad mood, he might eat you alive, slowly dissolving you in his fire-filled insides."

Tails hid his head under the blankets, utterly terrified at this point. Sonic could hear his little brother's whimpering, and he decided that story time was over.

"Sorry, little buddy; I didn't mean to scare you that much." He pulled down the sheet and looked Tails dead in the eye. "It's just a story, Tails: it's not real." He embraced the terrified kitsune in a protective hug, patting his back to try to calm him down. _Maybe I should've saved that one for when he was older,_ he mentally scolded himself. "You want me to sleep with you tonight?"

"Yes," Tails squeaked.

**An hour later….**

Tails woke up. The room was dark, and Sonic was no longer here. Sally must have called him. He looked around: everything seemed to be in order. His model airplanes were still hanging from the ceiling. His bookshelf was still in its usual place, with no deranged men in Christmas sweaters hiding inside. None under the bed, either.

Tails was about to fall asleep once again, but he noticed something at the foot of his bed: the top of a raggedy fedora hat.

"Hello, Tails."


End file.
